Polo mallet



Dec. 13, 1938. HOWARD 2,140,383

POLO MALLET Filed Aug. 2, 1937 1 INVENTOR 2 WWW ATTORNEYS Patented Dec.13, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POLO MALLET ard, deceasedApplication August 2, 1937, Serial No. 156,887

9 Claims.

This invention relates to polo mallets.

The principal object1of this invention is to provide a polo mallet ofsimple construction and which is effective to promote improved play andincreased sureness in playing the ball.

Another object is to provide a polo mallet having an added effectivearea for ball contact, while maintaining unimpaired its balance,maneuverability, and other playing characteristics.

Other objects and advantages will.be apparent from the accompanyingdrawing, the following description, and the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the lower portion of a polo malletembodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 and showing a modification.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In the game of polo, great skill is required in playing the ball.Despite the greatest skill, the game is slowed down and rendered lessinteresting to spectators and players alike, because of misses, andbadly executed shots caused by the erratic and unpredictable behavior ofthe ball while travelling over the roughened playing field. And as thefield becomes increasingly rough during the course of a game, thiserratic behavior of the ball may introduce a larger element of chance asthe game progresses, with the result that it is not uncommon that atcritical points, especially toward the end of a. game, chance ratherthan skill may be the deciding factor.

With conventional polo mallets, as commonly used in play, the ball iscontacted and struck by the side of the mallet. The mallet head is oflimited height, and the handle to which the head is attached iscomparatively thin. Thus if the ball in traveling over roughened groundtakes an erratic bounce or bad hop and hops over the mallet head, onlythe comparatively thin handle is available for use in an efiort tointercept, strike and direct the ball.

The present invention provides for effectively increasing the area ofthe mallet which is available for use in such situations, whilepreserving all of the desirable handling characteristics of the mallet,thus insuring that the speed and skill requirements of the game are notimpaired.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, there is shown in Fig. 1 amallet, having a handle H to which is attached a mallet head I2. Mallethead I 2 is apertured, in the usual manner, intermediate its ends at M,and this aperture receives the lower portion l6 of handle H. Mallet headl2 has a forward end l1, and rear end l8, these ends being planesurfaces located transversely of the head I2. Ends I! and I8 are notused in striking the ball, however, the mallet being used with one ofits sides presented toward the ball. While not so effective the part ofthe handle adjacent the head is likewise used; but its small diametermakes for great uncertainty in playing even with the mallet in the mostskillful hands.

Asshown, means are provided for effectively increasing the ballcontacting area of the side of the mallet, while maintaining unimpairedthe playing characteristics of the mallet. For this purpose, ballcontacting members are provided extending from the mallet head upwardlyand inwardly in the direction of the mallet handle. These ballcontacting members are arranged across the spaces to, either side of thehandle and above the head, and are spaced with respect to the handle andhead so that they will intercept a ball passing into such spaces. Thusthey enlarge the effective contact area of the mallet and handle. Thesemembers thus define areas of a size which will reject a. polo ball. Asshown in Fig. 1 these ball contacting members comprise a forwardupwardly and inwardly extending wire 20, and a similarly positioned wire2|. These wires are shown as attached to the mallet head I2 at pointsadjacent the forward and rear ends of the mallet as indicated at 22 and23, the wire being received in properly positioned grooves 26 and 21,and being secured therein by twisting the wire upon itself, as at 28 and29. Both the front member and rear member II are shown as formed from asingle length of wire, and as secured to handle II by being wrappedaround the handle at 30.

The standard polo ball has a diameter of the order of four inches andthe contacting members 20 and 2| are positioned sothat the area includedbetween these members and the other parts of the mallet will not pass aball of this size, and the areas are made sufficiently smaller than theballs so that there is no possibility of the ball becoming wedgedbetween the parts. The distances of the attachment, 30, above the mallethead, and the points of attachment of the lower parts of the contactingmembers to the mallet head are chosen to give that arrangement. Thisinvention gives greatly increased and. satisfactory playing results ifthe increase in area which is secured is approximately that of a mansoutstretched hand, and affords a substantial increase in area over thatpresented by the mallet head and handle alone, thus making possible theexecution of many shots which would otherwise be impossible or spoiledby an erratic bounce of the ball.

While the construction just described may have some reinforcing effectupon the mallet, this is incidental as the mallets as previously builthave adequate strength characteristics, and it has been found thatmaterial interference with the strength characteristics of theconventional construction may give undesirable results, since thisstrength may be obtained at the cost of some of the resiliency and feelof the mallet.

It will also be noted that while the same increase in lateral area couldbe obtained by attaching solid members laterally extended to fill in thetriangles or spaces between the head and the handle, such a constructionwould definitely impair the playing characteristics of the mallet bychanging the accustomed balance of the mallet, by adding to the windresistance, and also by in efiect creating a vane structure which mightdivert the mallet from its proper course whenit is swung. In the presentconstruction the desirable results are obtained without any suchattendant objectionable results.

In Figs. 2 and 3, there is shown a construction in which forward andrear ball contacting members and 4| are supported entirely from themallet head, thus avoiding all possibility of altering the resiliencyand other playing characteristics of the mallet. In this construction,the ball contacting members 40 and 4| are in the form of upwardly andinwardly extending rods, having their lower ends joined to malletencircling rings 42 and 43 which are located adjacent the forward andrear ends respectively of the mallet. The upper ends of ball contactingmembers 40 and 4| are joined at 44 and 45 to a connector ring 41, whichsurrounds handle 1 l in spaced relationship, as shown particularly inFig. 3. The spacing of the connector ring above the mallet head I2 is ingeneral similar to that of connection 30 in Fig. 1. Similarly thepositioning of attaching rings 42 and 43 is similar to that of thepoints of attachment 22 and 23 of the wires 20 and 2| of Fig. 1.

There is thus provided a polo mallet with added effectiveness so thatthe element of mere chance in the game is substantially reduced,whilethe skill requirements remain unimpaired, and

. the mallet itself retains all of the desired playing characteristicswhich characterize the conventional type of mallet.

While the articles herein described constitute preferred embodiments ofthe invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limitedto these precise articles, and that changes may be made therein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention which is defined in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a polo mallet of the character described, a head, a handleattached thereto, and means arranged within the space above the mallethead and adjacent the handle for preventing passage of a polo ballthrough said space.

2. In a polo mallet of the character described, a head, a handleattached thereto, and means arranged at either side of said handle andabove the mallet head and within the space above the mallet head andadjacent the handle for preventing passage of a polo ball through saidspace.

3. In a polo mallet of the character described, a head, a handleattached thereto, and means arranged within the space above the mallethead and adjacent-the handle for preventing passage of a polo ballthrough said space, said means comprising a member of unobjectionableweight and wind resistance.

4. In a polo mallet of the character described,

a head, a handle attached thereto, and means arranged at either side ofsaid handle and above the mallet head and within the space above themallet head and adjacent the handle for preventing passage of a poloball through said space, said means comprising a member ofunobjectionable weight and wind resistance. 7 v

5. In a polo mallet having a handle and a head on said handle andadapted for use with a polo ball, ball contacting means secured to saidmallet adjacent the head end thereof and constructed to stand for asubstantial portion of its length clear of said mallet head and handle,said means being dimensioned and positioned to prevent the passage ofthe polo ball between itself and said mallet, to provide an addedeffective ball contacting area of substantial size while retaining theother playing characteristics of the mallet.

6. In a polo mallet having a handle and a head on said handle, ballcontacting means comprising a member extending upwardly from said mallethead and lying substantially in the plane which includes the long axesof said head and said handle, said member being constructed for asubstantial portion of its length to stand clear of said head andhandle, and being dimensioned and positioned so that the included spacebetween said member and said mallet will reject a pole ball, to providean effective ball contact- 11g area of substantial size whilemaintaining unimpaired the playing characteristics of the mallet.

'7. A polo mallet of the character described comprising a mallet handle,a mallet head on said handle and receiving an end of said handle at apoint intermediate the head length, and ball contacting members securedto said mallet head adjacent the ends thereof and extending upwardly andinwardly toward said handle, each said member being constructed andspaced with respect to said mallet head and handle to define a space ofa size and shape which will not accept a polo ball, and being of lightweight and small wind resistance.

8. A polo mallet of the character described comprising a mallet handle,a mallet head on said handle and receiving an end of said handle at apoint intermediate said length, and ball contacting means comprising awire secured about said head adjacent an end thereof and extendingupwardly and inwardly to said handle and being secured thereto at apoint spaced from said head by a distance commensurate with the headlength, said wire extending from the point of attachment to the handledownwardly and outwardly to a point adjacent the other end of said head,said wire being there secured to said head.

9. A polo mallet of the character described comprising a mallet handle,a mallet head on said handle and receiving an end of said handle at apoint intermediate the head length, and ball contacting means comprisinga pair of rod members, means for securing said rod members to saidmallet head adjacent opposite ends thereof, said rod members extendingupwardly and in wardly toward said handle but terminating short of saidhandle, and a connector ring surrounding said handle in spacedrelationship and secured to the upper ends of said rod members.

HOWELL HOFFMAN HOWARD.

